October 10, 1902.] 



SCIENCE. 



583 



they can carry on such work, and still 

 fewer who are in a position to direct such 

 work, for it must be borne in mind that if 

 one man has to carry out all the manipula- 

 tion of a line of research, it will of neces- 

 sity be rather limited in its scope. 



These conditions it is practically impos- 

 sible for most of the universities of the 

 country to improve, limited as they are in 

 their funds. Would it not accomplish the 

 aims of the donor if a portion of the in- 

 come of the Carnegie funds were used as 

 fellowships, which would enable men who 

 had already given good promise to go on 

 with their work at some university of their 

 choice, the income from the fellowships 

 being large enough to support them ade- 

 quately, and being renewable for several 

 years if deemed wise in individual in- 

 stances? In some cases it might be well to 

 award these fellowships to older men, that 

 they might be enabled to employ assistants 

 to carry out lines of research, which it 

 would be an impossibility for them to ac- 

 complish alone on account of their peda- 

 gogical duties. Many a teacher of chem- 

 istry could bring forth valuable results 

 if he had an assistant to carry on manipula- 

 tions, for which he himself cannot find the 

 time. As far as I know, none of the re- 

 search funds now available could be 

 legitimately used for the purpose of em- 

 ploying assistants. 



There is another direction in which the 

 Carnegie committee on research in chem- 

 istry, should such be appointed, could ren- 

 der valuable aid to the cause of chemical 

 research, and that without the expenditure 

 of any considerable sum beyond their own 

 salaries. This is in pointing out desirable 

 directions of research. Many young men, 

 .just starting on their careers as teachers, 

 are anxious to take up some line of investi- 

 gation but do not know just what to select: 

 On the other hand, there are many lines 

 upon which it is desirable that work should 



be done, with no one to undertake it. Such 

 a committee could render invaluable ser- 

 vice by acting as a sort of chemical research 

 clearing-house. The whole field of inor- 

 ganic chemistry, for example, is full of 

 gaps which need to be filled out, as well as 

 of old material which needs to be reex- 

 amined. Professor F. W. Clarke has else- 

 where called attention to the assistance 

 which could be rendered by a suitable com- 

 mittee in this direction. It would doubt- 

 less secure the immediate cooperation of 

 scores of young chemists, and the possibili- 

 ties in this direction are almost limitless. 

 I am well aware of the fact that there must 

 be a spontaneity about research, but nine 

 young men out of ten will be wisely guided 

 by older heads when setting out upon a 

 career of investigation. 



There is one other direction in which a 

 portion of the Carnegie funds might be 

 turned, with the assurance of accomplish- 

 ing much for chemical research. This is 

 the establishment of an American counter- 

 part of the Davy-Faraday Research Labo- 

 ratory of the Royal Institution, and its ade- 

 quate endowment. This would, however, 

 probably require more than the proportion 

 of the funds that should justly be allotted 

 to chemistry, unless the province of the 

 Institution should be confijied to a few 

 sciences only; but its value would be un- 

 questionable. 



J. L. Howe. 



In my opinion the final policy of the 

 Carnegie Institution can only develop with 

 time, and at the outset a tentative plan 

 should be adopted which would not involve 

 the investment of a considerable sum in a 

 working plant of any kind, and especially^ 

 in duplicating plants already in existence. 

 I would, therefore, suggest that for the 

 present the income be devoted mainly to 

 subsidizing such researches and such in- 

 vestigators as seem to be worthy, utilizing- 



